A new-style litigation funder seeking to invest in high volumes of lower-value commercial cases launches today.

Caprica, which styles itself as an ‘alternative litigation funding company’, said it would make third-party funding available to a ‘much-expanded’ range of cases, providing access-to-justice for smaller businesses in the light of the pending reforms to civil justice.

Caprica has been set up by Thomas Miller, an investment management firm, which says it has secured funding from un-named institutional investors. It plans to invest approximately £100m in litigation in the medium term. It is already funding £15m in cases taken on before its launch.

Whereas most funders invest in larger cases, typically worth at least £500,000, Caprica will consider claims worth a minimum of £50,000. It aims to take on high volumes of cases, ranging from disputes brought by small- to medium-sized enterprises to major commercial disputes, bi-lateral investment treaty arbitrations, and securities litigation.

The launch is designed to capitalise on opportunities created by the current reforms to civil justice, which will make it harder for clients to make use of conditional fee agreements to bring their case.

Bruce Kesterton, chief executive of Thomas Miller, said: ‘When we looked at the litigation funding market we were adamant we would only get involved if we could fundamentally reshape it with a funding solution that works not only for the complex, high-damages cases, but also smaller business disputes.

‘We felt the present funding market did not have mainstream appeal… The Ministry of Justice’s proposal to [reform the rules underpinning CFAs] has chimed perfectly with the introduction of a lower-cost funding model.’

Nigel Mallett, chief executive of the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association, said that, following the civil justice reforms, solicitors seeking to avoid negligence claims should consider lower-cost funding options, as these may be less expensive for clients than the new damages-based agreements.

James Delaney, director at broker TheJudge which assisted in bringing Caprica to the market, said: ‘Caprica is a step in the right direction [in encouraging claimants and litigators to embrace third-party funding] and will hopefully lead to much-needed price competition.’

Caprica’s launch follows the entrance of two other players into the litigation funding market in recent weeks.

International bank Investec announced its intention to offer litigation funding earlier this month, with a minimum investment of £250,000 per case.

A second funder, Managed Legal Solutions, also launched, with £20m of funding secured from private investors to invest in commercial disputes worth a minimum of £1m.

A voluntary code of conduct for third-party funders, which has been approved by the Civil Justice Council and Lord Justice Jackson, was published last week.

A list of third-party funders is available in the Gazette’s sister publication, Litigation Funding magazine.